"Humanitarian crisis" declared as 5,000 migrants reach Tijuana

TIJUANA, Mexico -- The mayor of Tijuana has declared a "humanitarian crisis" in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived in the city. Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum says that the Mexican federal government has provided little assistance and he is not going to commit the city's public resources to dealing with the situation.

Gastelum said on Grupo Formula radio Friday that Tijuana does not have the necessary infrastructure to adequately attend to the migrants. On Thursday, his government issued a statement saying that it was requesting help from the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Gastelum says: "I am not going to spend the money of Tijuana (citizens)."

Gastelum's declaration comes a day after President Trump made a Thanksgiving Day threat to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines that its southern ally has lost "control" on its side.